Reed-organ



(No Model.)

M. S. WRIGHT.

REED ORGAN.

Patented Aug. 27, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MORRIS S. \VRIGIIT, OF \VOROESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

REED-ORGAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 409,814, dated August27, 1889.

Application filed PebrnaryS, 1889. Serial No. 299,206. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MORRIS S. WRIGHT, of the city and county oflVorcester, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Reed-Organs; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisdescription, and in which- Figure 1 represents a longitudinal verticalsection of one set of reed-chambers, as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed; and Fig. 2 represents a similar section of the lower set ofreed-chambers, which are constructed in a modified form, as will behereinafter more fully described.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to makeand use the same, I will now describe the invention more in detail.

My present invention constitutes improvements in the reed-organ forwhich Letters Patent were granted to me on the 27th day of- March, A. D.1888, No. 380,071.

In the drawings I have shown a section of one of the reed-chambers inFig. 1. This section is sufficient to illustrate the construction of allthe other chambers above this lower set, since they are duplicates ofthe one shown in Fig. 1.

The nature of my present improvements consist, first, in the combinationand relative arrangement of the parts making up the reedchamber for asingle reed, as hereinafter described, whereby the joints are allparallel with the reed, and separate dividing-boards, separateplug-pieces, and separate qualifyingtubes with separate end caps are allavoided, as will be explained hereinafter, and in 00111- binationtherewith a convex wind part; second, in the combination with the bottomof the lower reed-chamber and closed ends, of a bottom valve, as will behereinafter described.

In Fig. 1 the parts marked A A are formed from single pieces, being cutout atB to form the air-ingress passage 13 and at C to form the lowerside of the qualifying-tube D. The part E is also in one piece, beingcored or cut out to form a long air-chamber E E", the latter spaceforming the upper half of the qualifying-chan1ber I) in thequalifyingtube D. The upper right-hand ends of the qualifying-tubes I)are cut away, as shown at a, while the lower right-hand ends of thetubes D are cut away, as shown at b, to form the long reed-space d, andthrough which the reeds F are pushed into place, the projection e on thelower side of the reed-frame F striking against the shoulder f of thepart E, and the projection g on the upper side of reed-frame F strikingagainst the shoulder 7L on the part- A, the shoulders f and 7! servingthe functions of plug-pieces, whereby a tight and perfect joint isproduced at the base of the reed between the reed-frame and the partsforming the airchambers of the reed-pan proper, and which constructionobviates the necessity of separate plugging-pieces, as found in my saidpatent of March 27, 1888, thereby not only saving much in expense, butrendering the instru ment far more desirable both in tone anddurability. The part E is cut out at G,leaving an open space for the airto pass from ingross-chamber 15 down by the reed-tongue F into and outof the qualifying-tube D at the convex port I) when valve or stop D isopen.

It will be noticed that the inner edge 2' of port I is made convex,whereby the air as it leaves the qualifying-tubes is centered and passesout in a freer and more uniform man ner than it does when the faces ofthe inner walls of the port are fiat, as in my said patent of March 27,1888, and as a practical result the tone is smooth and even and not liable to harshness of expression. To make this form of port, a tool isused which cuts the ends of the chamber in curved form, as seen at at,so that when the port-hole Dis formed or bored out the inner edge i isconvex, as fully indicated in the drawings.

The reed-frame F fits in side grooves out in the part A, and the frontend of said frame is also supported in a curved groove n,which extendsfrom one side groove to the other.

The lower set of air-chambers is, shown in Fig. 2, and in which case theparts for supporting the reed are made like the corresponding parts inFig. 1, while the parts below the reed are made somewhat differently forproducing a deep and heavy tone. The chambers corresponding to chambersE and E" in Fig. 1 are divided by the partition H,

while below that the bottom piece I is cored or cut out to form a largequalifying-chamher I, with a concave port J in the bottom, but to theright or to one side of the partition H, said port being provided with avalve or stop H.

In operation the air takes the course indicated by the arrows, and bythis form of construction these heavy tones are mellowed or mufiiedsomewhat, thereby giving to the ear a more pleasant and desirable sound.PortJ is made concave, as seen at 0, whereby the same general result isobtained as by the convex ports in the upper air-chambers, the air beingcentered before it reaches the outer part 1) of the port. Theglue-joints K and L are the only ones used in my present improvedreed-organ, both horizontal. It will be understood that the ingress-airpassages are closed by valves, as shown in my said former patent or inany other well-known manner, and also that such valves are connectedwith the keysin any well-known manner; also, that the stops or valves Dand H are properly connected to the well-known mechanism employed by theplayer to operate such stops in reed and other organs.

To make up a full reed-pan for an organ the parts shown in Fig. 1 areduplicated and attached together, as shown, until the desired number ofseries of reeds and their airchambers are combined to form an organ,with the exception of the bottom series,which are of the constructionshown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The pieces A, A, E, and I are of any desired length to make thedesignated number of air-chambers, reed-supports, and qualifying-tubesfor the size of reed-organ to be made.

It will be seen that I have by the present improvements greatlysimplified the construction of reed-organs, while at the same timerendering them more substantial, less liable to get out of order, andmore perfect in tone, since the glue-joints are reduced to really two toeach set or series of air-chambers and reeds.

The piece marked A and A and the piece marked E extend the whole lengthof the instrument from end to end and maybelonger or shorter, asdesired, while the part E supports the reeds, as shown, and the piecemarked A A, when attached to the part E, serves for an ingressair-passage to the reed below, and also makes up the lower half of thequalifying-tube for the reed next above.

By this mode of construction there are no cross glue joints, and theentire central part of the reed-pan is composed of single piecesproperly cut or cored out to form the airchambers and qualifying-tubes,while air-exit ports are formed by boring through the solid part of thepiece E. The parts being thus reduced to only two pieces of differentform or construction for the entire central part of the organ, rendersits construction less expensive and far more durable than by any of themodes inuse prior to my present invention.

It will be understood that the reed and the parts forming thereed-chambers may be arranged in vertical or inclined positions withoutchange of construction or departing from the principle of my invention.

I prefer to arrange and construct theorgan so that the reeds and thejoints K and L will be horizontal, as shown in the drawings; but othermanufacturers can use either arrangement, as preferred.

\Vhat I claim as new and of my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

l. The combination, in a reed-pan for a reed-organ, with thereed-supporting piece E, cut or cored out, as described, of the singlepiece marked A and A, cut or cored out, as shown at B and C, to form aningress airpassag'e B, and the lower half of the qualifying-tube D,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with the reed F and the projections e and g on thebase of the reed-frame F, of the shoulders f and h,whereby a separateplugging-piece is avoided, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

3. The combination, with the air-chamber B and reed F, of the reed-framesupportingpiece E, extended beyond the base of the reedframe F and coredoutto form the air-chambers E and E, and provided with shoulder f on itsupper side, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination, with the reed-supporting piece E and air-chambers Eand E, cut or cored therefrom, of the convex port D, as and forthepurposes set forth.

5. The combination, with the qualifying chamber 1 and air-cha'mbers E E,of the bottom concave port J, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

MORRIS S. IVRIGI-I'l.

Witnesses:

THos. H. DODGE, TIMOTHY DUGGAN.

